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The building owner next door, on the North side, has finally put his building up for auction. The figure it sold for was double what I considered reasonable considering the repairs needed. ( I was badly wrong!)

It took 7.5 years to get to this stage. One can not help wonder if the “Powers that be” can not find a better way to deal with these issues. But that is another story that they are not listening too.

I have done a rough cost estimate of how much it has cost the economy to keep our street closed for the last 7.5 years. I estimate the loss of turnover of the approximately 16 shops in our units plus residential and offices on the second floor, to be about $15,000,000 per year. Multiply x 7.5 years= $112,500,000. Simplistic and inaccurate maths I know. But that is $112,000,000 plus that has not flowed back into the Christchurch economy for 7 plus years. Then add into that, the closure of at least 6-7 businesses that did not reopen following the closure of the street, us included, the loss of equipment, infrastructure and skills, wages etc. At a very rough guess I would round that figure up to $120,000,000.

The question that has to be asked is? Why did the powers that be not calculate this figure themselves and make an effort to get repairs under way in this street sooner?

I am not sure that I will ever know the answer.

141 High Street has a new owner.

Hopefully our side wall gets sorted out now.

The new owner has plans to reinstate the building, turning the upstairs into an inner city apartment and the ground floor into retail space. It will take him about 8-10 months if he really gets moving.

So we have another year to wait before this neighbour is sorted.

We also have a wait for the south side owner, but we now have a lovely clear site on our boundary! Now covered in gravel. The new plans are at Engineering stage.

The Consortium group has started the foundation pour on the North side units. Hoping to be finished by December.

Foundations under way for 8 new Duncan’s Units

The “only” fly in the ointment is the Ace Video Building at 130 High Street, that is still on the “Dirty 30” list. The lack of progress with this building defies belief.

Ace Video building at 130 High Street, unrepaired after 7.5 years. At approx 27% NBS ? It make no sense to me at all.

So here we are 7.5 years later, in a closed off street, watching the grass grow. Be very afraid, this could happen to you Wellington. Hopefully the Powers have learnt what not to do, but I doubt it!

Ho Hum , it’s a lovely day, I am an unemployed bum and I am off to check my possum traps. Only had 50 so far this year. Predator Free Port Hills is still a long way off!

We are having issues with the CCC regarding our Code of Compliance. No, it is not Structural, or Fire safety, or public safety…. that is too obvious! CCC Building Consents are refusing to sign off because our Design Engineer, who is slowly retiring, has not renewed His IPENZ registration (Engineering Society). As a result of this they are refusing to accept his PS4. (Producer Statement). But Compliance says that the Design Engineer must sign the COC???? Make up your mind guys….

CCC Consents wants us to get the whole 7 years worth of project peer-reviewed by another Engineer. There are 2 problems with this: no Engineer in his right mind would review 7 years of paper work for a “un-reinforced masonry building” and secondly no Engineer in his right mind would sign off on such a building without having inspected all the steel earthquake strengthening columns that are now hidden behind gib, let alone covered in concrete!

None of this surprises me, as CCC Building Consents have been “difficult” (polite use of words I might add…) to deal with for 7 years, so what’s new? But there is one problem here, the CCC signed off early this year on a unit in the same building 20 meters away, using the same Engineer with the same expired IPENZ registration.

The question I ask is this: Is this some new policy that they have devised or is this a new law that has suddenly been concocted or is this revenge for us being a pain in the “neck”? Or All of the above?

Heritage Building owners, be very afraid, it is not worth repairing your Heritage buildings. There is no structure or assistance in place to help you deal with these issues..

On a happier note: The Duncan’s Buildings demolition is proceeding quickly. Only one more party-wall to go. Its been dusty and a bit noisy but trouble-free. And a bonus… the front is still standing…..

Ho humm, off to make some more grumpy phone calls to the Building Consents dept…..

A beginner’s guide to buying a house in Christchurch. Earthquake Houses 101.

This was written for one of my sons, in an attempt to save him some grief. Apologies for the length of this post, this is fraught with difficulty.

I have been watching the ongoing unaddressed issues with “Red Stickered” and “As is where is” houses being passed off as having had full repairs done. Within 100 metres of my house there are at least 5 houses that I know of that have been “tarted up” and on sold to unsuspecting buyers. They are ticking time bombs. It is an issue that both the CCC and the Hon. Jenny Salesa, Minister for Building and Construction urgently need to address.

Do not get me wrong, some of these houses are repairable, but they require extensive and in some cases invasive inspections. The issue is that many inexperienced home buyers are being caught out. The inspections that they are commissioning are often from inexperienced companies with no Licensed Building Practitioners on staff and no qualifications. Or the repairs have been hidden behind concrete, plaster and gib board.

Be very careful what you buy.

This list is by no means comprehensive: errors and omissions accepted. It is only a starting point and not to be relied upon as infallible. Glossary at end.

Things to look out for:

1. Has it been “Red Stickered”. ie deemed unsafe for habitation. Ring Building Consents at Christchurch City Council, to find out.

If yes, have repairs been done?

It is Unlikely to be insured. Also if it has been insured it is unlikely to be re-insured.

Run away quickly.
Were:
a) Repairs Consented by City Council? yes/no? If not run….
b) Has building company had “a mate” do a PS4 for it? with no building consent.. If so run….
c) Was PS 4 signed by a CPEng? who?
d) Has it just had a lick of paint to hide problems and is being flicked on to unsuspecting buyer? If so run…...
e) Get Scope of works and all paper work before you buy.

2. Is it an “As is where is house” that is being on sold.

a) This means no insurance review is possible. ie case will not be reopened. If so run….
b) Repairs consented by City Council? yes/no? If no run..
c) had “a mate” do a PS4 for it? If so run….…
d) was PS 4 signed by a CPEng? who?
e) Just had a lick of paint and is being flicked on to unsuspecting buyer? If so run….
f) Get scope of works and all paper work before you buy.
g) It is Unlikely to be insured. Also if it has been insured it is unlikely to be re-insured.

Get Documentation?

3. Is it prone to flooding?

a) Avoid: Parts Of New Brighton, Flockton Basin, Avon River, Heathcote River and low-lying areas on East side. If so run fast….
b) Anything on east side will need to be raised by 1 metre sooner or later, add $100,000 plus.

c) It is Unlikely to be insured. Also if it has been insured it is unlikely to be re-insured.

4. What is the land status?https://mylandzone.canterburymaps.govt.nz/#/
a) Is it TC3 ie bottomless bog hole, If so run…..
b) Is it TC2 – slightly less bottomless bog hole, If so run….
c) Is it TC1 – solid land. This is GOOD.

5. Has it had a EQC repair?
That means the damage was considered to be “under cap” ie less than $100,000
a) was it “Fletchered”? A new verb. It means that the repair was managed by Fletcher Earthquake Recovery (EQR), often by an unknown out-of-town builder/painter/plumber etc.. ie repairs done by “unknown contractor”, long gone from the city. May be run….. depends on builder.
If so get a Licensed Building practitioner or CPEng to inspect it.
b) Has it been “jack and packed” in foundations? If so run….….. after inspection
c) Have foundations been looked at? If not run…..
Does it have Rubble foundations with plastered over cracks?? Depends on the repair…. may be run
d) Is the under floor area full of liquefaction? If so run very fast….
e) Did it have asbestos? Covered up or removed?
f) Get scope of works and all paper work before you buy.
g) Is it insured?
h) have the repairs been done more than once, If so run….. i) Is roof leaking, has the roof structure been inspected? Check scope of works.

6. Avoid any building with no eaves. Potential leaky building.

a) Avoid some modern plaster finishes.

7. Avoid multi unit buildings “MUBS”, corporate bodies & cross leases.
a) Many of these were owned by multiple owners and multiple insurance companies were involved. Many are still not settled. If so run….

Check Insurance?

8. At all times get a Licensed Building Practitioner or CPEng to inspect your choice

9. Borrow a friendly CPEng– if you can find one.

10. Ask the REAL ESTATE agent these questions, some are being less than honest in some cases, ie down right evasive. (I had one the other day deny the house was a “As is Where is repair”, it had been signed off by Friendly Engineer with no consent. They do not tell you unless you insist on the information.)

“Producer statements are typically used for specialist work, such as engineering, or where there is a proprietary product which is installed by appointed contractors. Councils will use their judgement when considering producer statements and how much weight to give them.”

CPEng: (Chartered Professional Engineer), https://www.cpec.org.nz/cpec/what-does-cpeng-mean ” a Government-backed mark of quality indicating the individual engineer has proven their current competence to practice as a professional engineer within New Zealand. These engineers are required to maintain their current competence.”

“To be Fletchered”? Verb. “When homes and infrastructure were damaged in Christchurch’s 7.1 earthquake in September 2010, Fletcher Earthquake Recovery (EQR) was established to manage the logistics of a massive home repair programme on behalf of the Earthquake Commission (EQC). ” www.fletcherconstruction.co.nz/projects/community/earthquake-recovery In short: It means that the repair was managed by Fletchers, often by an unknown out-of-town builder/painter/plumber etc.. ie repairs done by “unknown contractor”, often long gone from the city. This is not the case in all instances, some repairs are good, problem is which ones? May be run…..

Rubble foundations: Foundations made of stones and other rubble encased in varying grades of concrete, aggregate and plaster in the 1920s. Google this one, I do not know where to start.

MUBS: Multi Unit Buildings ie multiple flats on one site, often with different owners and different insurance companies. These often have been left by EQC and the Insurance industry in the too hard basket and many are still not settled.

It is “Road Cone Day” today. When Christchurch remembers those that died, in a uniquely Christchurch fashion.

Christchurch road cone Memorial day.

That dreaded day has come around again, when we all pause for reflection. The 22nd of February 2011, the day that changed the lives of every Cantabrian, some for the better, some for the worse.

We remember those that died, those that suffered and are still suffering and the many Cantabrian’s still trying to get Insurance settlements for their damaged houses and buildings.

We wonder what the future holds for the central city and 7 years on, reflect on progress in the CBD.

We have seen multiple/competing governmental agencies take control of the land, build, design and implementation of the rebuild process. In the minds of many of us we see this as a separate and new disaster. The anchor projects are un-affordable and in many cases stalled.. (in fact all they have achieved is a Children’s play ground and a Memorial Wall).

I await the analysis of the so-called “Rebuild agencies” with considerable interest, we need to make sure that this “half-baked” model they dreamt up in haste is never used in New Zealand ever again.

For High Street progress has also been painfully and frustratingly slow.

So we wait.. A total of 2492 days so far ….

High Street 7 years on from February 2011, is just a car park…

It is hard to get enthusiastic about progress in the central city when we still have a street looking like this. I see it as a massive failure of both local and central government management or rather mismanagement.

Lower High Street is still fenced off, there are 2 building owners who have not lifted a finger to repair their buildings.

In fact both owners have been given until 2033 to repair their properties under the “Earthquake Prone Building legislation”. Really?, what planet is the CCC and Central Government on?

This is in my view, hopelessly inadequate and is like slapping the owners with a “wet bus ticket”. There has to be a better way of dealing with these issues.

Signage from the CCC on 141 High Street

On a more positive note:

The ground floor is nearly empty as all our machinery and stock has gone.

I see that the demolition has begun a few days ago on the 8 Duncan’s Units owned by Richard Pebbles. He is planning to have the new units rebuilt by October/November. Ye ha!

Demolition begins on the munted Duncan’s Building’s back.

Slow progress, but progress nevertheless.

If you have a building in a similar situation to ours, you need to read this blog from the beginning, so you can approach the issue with your eyes wide open. This warts and all story is slowly reaching it’s final conclusion, only 240 more days to wait…

Whoops, I “Forgot” to tell you that the council is going to dig the street up, just when the buildings are finished. I think they want to run the tram down this end? I believe that this is now under some discussion, strange really, no one has asked me what I think…may be they know already?

ha ha the end is not in sight after all…. Bugger..

Update: 28 February 2018:

The demolition of the backs of the Duncan’s Buildings is progressing: Some of it is going to be done by hand.

The lean too’s are gone, phase 2 begins. Now it gets tricky.

PPS. Having trouble with Code of Compliance issues, at the CCC consents dept. … sigh, nothing structural I might add. It is a paper work issue. It is about who signs the paper work! lol. A lawyers call seems to have progressed the issue…. they would not respond to my calls. I think…. a case of “policy over legislation”. I am watching with interest.

High Street has been closed for nearly 7 years. The last street in the city to get any attention. (Have you considered that this is longer than World War 11 lasted). As you know I consider that keeping this area un-repaired has been a deliberate strategy.. aimed to promote other areas of the city. (What school did you go to??? she says cynically).

The re-opening of the “street” is “imminent” – that is one lane only, one way. It did not happen 3 weeks ago so “imminent” is as close as I can get.

The “Billens building 2017” is nearly finished. Looks good! I will grab an up to date photo.

The demolition of the back of the 8 units owned by Pebble’s Group was supposed to be “imminent” as well. I am watching the grass grow as we speak. There is a very serious risk that the frontages will collapse when this demo gets underway, if they are not very, very careful. Hope they know what they are doing….

Digger been idle since end of November.

I spotted the CCC was cruising the street at 9.00pm the other night looking at the roading needs. lol. I would just settle for a road, who cares if it has cobbles? That’s a luxury. Apparently they were planning on digging up the road as soon as the new tenants have moved in to the rebuilt Billens and Duncan’s units. You get the picture new businesses/road works a Typical Christchurch scenario. I think you have already heard me comment on the lack of care that has been taken over the existing tenants/businesses in the CBD, by the powers that be. This has not changed.

Our new tenants moved in upstairs yesterday. They are having trouble getting an internet/phone line. We put all the cabling in place but apparently there is no fibre connections spare in St Asaph street. ie not enough nodes??? Really???? The latest update is that they may end up on the copper line that I had to use in 2013 that Vodafone “cobbled” up for me. (Took them 4 months if I remember rightly).

As of today I am officially unemployed. Cardmakers is sold, Arts the printers is closed.

re our neighbours. On the North side, nothing has happened. Zilch, nada…. it was supposed to be containered off at the front, 3 high if I remember correctly. It was supposed to have parts of it demolished, it was supposed to be strengthened.. etc.. How is it that a building owner can get away with doing NOTHING for 7 years with no penalties? The law is an ass. It is well and truly time this was sorted out by legislation. Somebody help???? Anyone out there? CCC won’t help, nor will Regenerate or LINZ, The Local MP’s won’t/can’t help… Megan woods, Ruth Dyson, Duncan Webb… Suggestions welcomed. I am giving serious consideration to the temporary prop that I put in 7 years ago to hold up the roof…. that must be due to fail by now… the floor is rotten, the walls are falling out, don’t blame me if it happens!!!

Part of our back deck is inaccessible to our tenants.

Oh and one last thing.. We are going for code of Compliance in early January 2018. Ye ha. 7 years work coming to fruition! By the way we did our landscaping for the Resource consent last week. That was a waste of effort. All the plants were stolen overnight. They did leave the planter box though. I really do wonder about the consents processes, they are a bit silly!

ho ho it’s off to work I go, got some cleaning out to do and some compliance paper work to sort….

I have been told by a contractor that the street in front of the Duncan’s Buildings will be opened on Monday, one way. I have had no notification of this from the CCC but I would consider that normal. ie I do not expect communication at any level. I have no idea what implications this will have for contractor parking in the area, which is quite frankly a nightmare. The irony of this is that you will enter the street from Tuam Street, go around the block and end up on, you guessed it, Tuam Street. Aren’t our roading engineers clever?

A digger has begun demolition off 8 of the Duncan’s Units, leaving the frontage standing if they are lucky. I will grab some pix today.

Digger has arrived and begun the demo.

Did you know that once these 8 units are down, the unit next to us at 141 High Street is probably one of the most damaged buildings left in the city. It has no support for its frontage and the back of it is just as bad if not worse. The floors are rotten, the roof leaks and is held up by a prop that we put in place in 2010. We should have pulled it out long ago. ….. that is tempting ….. And still LINZ and the City Council wait for the building owner to do something. As far as I can see, the owner, who is in Christchurch at the moment I might add, (back from his overseas paradise), comes to look at the building occasionally and gives the universal one fingered salute to the CCC. The law is clearly an ass.

Just how long are they going to let this go on? Is 7 years long enough for one building owner to hold up redevelopment of an area. Obviously not! This building is not unique in the street as you well know.

NB. collected some graffiti in the weekend. If the silly idiot that did this knew what was holding the bay window up he would be very afraid.

Part of our back deck is inaccessible to our tenants.

Hi ho, hi ho, I am off to clear out the factory, we have sold the last of the plant. Transfer is on the 30 December.

By the way, the lack of care that the government/council has taken with the existing businesses remaining in the CBD and fringes is worrying. The conclusion we have all reached is that they did not want us here.

One also wonders, at what point do they consider that the number of bars and cafes in the city is past saturation point? I note that bars and cafes are colonizers in a disaster, the problem in the Christchurch CBD and fringes is that we show no signs of getting past this stage. So one could say that the recovery phase has not even begun. 7 years on….

They do not talk about this either, Close your eyes government, for this is getting comical!

The Watson’s frontage has been purchased by Shaun Stockman. An Excellent outcome for the street as he is a very proactive landowner, who has a flare with heritage buildings. (Although, as you know, I hate just keeping the facades). I know that the Watson’s Building had been strengthened pre-earthquakes. So the question should be asked as to why is only the facade still standing? Did CERA have another of their rushes of blood to the head? Any one know or remember, or was it another case of an overzealous demo contractor? I will try to find out. Link Here: https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/98817606/facade-sells-at-auction-no-takers-for-dux-building

This is obviously still annoying me…. I see the “dirty 30 list” is rearing its ugly head again. In the 6 months or so that the CCC has been pursuing the building owners on this list they have sorted out 3? Really? ( I sorted one-off them for them, I might add. So consider that 2.) And you consider that a success? As a building owner still trapped in a street of “Dirty 30’s” I do not consider this a success. In fact the words Dismal Failure spring to mind. Link Here: https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/99030236/action-taken-on-christchurchs-dirty-30-list As you all know, I think that the legislation has let us down badly in this regard. The building owners in many cases have been negligent in their duties to the city.

We have now sold all of our plant. The last of it will transfer in a few weeks to the new owner. We are pleased that we have sold the last of the gear to a local company. We look forward to helping him get up and running and we hope he has as much fun with the “Cardmaker’s brand” as I have had in the last 20 years. The factory is slowly emptying as we work our way through 50 years of stuff! Jeepers we have found some treasures!

The demolition of the back of the Duncan’s buildings was supposed to happen a few weeks ago. I do not know what the hold up has been. There are multiple engineering issues with this demo. I have some reservations about it. One being how they will resolve the issue of the continuous facade and seismic gaps in the rebuild of the backs. But what would I know.

No Demo yet….

Happy days… the sun is shining, the ground only shakes once in a while, I am in my new house, the garden is starting to look better and not working is really great…. May I cost the government a fortune in superannuation payments and health care…. I consider it revenge for the crappy treatment that they dished out to the small land owners in the city… but I would say that!!!